Mission & Service

Palliative Care is a special type of care designed for those with a serious illness and individuals dealing with multiple illnesses. We work to maximize a patient's comfort while minimizing symptoms of an incurable, progressive disease or diseases.

The goal of palliative care is to help individuals maintain their routines and day-to-day life as much as possible. Palliative care is often referred to as "comfort care" because of its attention to improving the patient's quality of life and relieving suffering. Unlike hospice care, a patient can still seek curative treatments when he or she is enrolled in the Palliative Care Services care program. Our parent company, Hospice of Chattanooga, offers hospice services for patients with a prognosis of six months or less.

When treating you, our goal is to help you control your pain and symptoms, understand what options you have for medical treatments, give you the ability to better deal with those treatments and keep you out of the local emergency room.

Another thing you will find in our Palliative Care program is that there is regular communication between you and the medical staff to deal with changes in conditions that might affect your treatment options.

And if there is ever the need, we have staff who can work with you on planning advance directives to make sure your wishes are followed.

Get in touch

We at Palliative Care Services would love to help you or your loved one.

Our Team

Chief medical officer

Greg Phelps M.D.

Dr. Phelps joined Hospice of Chattanooga in June of 2016 as Chief Medical Officer. He was previously Medical Director at the University of TN Medical Center Hospice in Knoxville, TN. He is a 1979 graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Phelps did his residency and internship in Family Medicine at Anderson Memorial Hospital. In 2009 he completed a Fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine through the University of Louisville. Dr. Phelps is Board Certified in Family Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

physician

Maribeth Bosshardt, MD

Dr. Maribeth Bosshardt is a graduate of Mercer University School of Medicine and completed her Internal Medicine residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She then went on to complete a Palliative and Hospice Medicine fellowship at Vanderbilt. Before moving to Chattanooga, she lived in Charleston, South Carolina where she worked at the Medical University of South Carolina as part of the palliative care team. She worked in the hospital providing palliative care consults and also in the palliative care clinic at Hollings Cancer Center at MUSC. She now sees patients in the palliative care clinic at Tennessee Oncology and provides palliative care consults at Memorial hospital. She has a passion for palliative care education in the community and the hospital setting.

EDUCATIONMERCER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

EXPERIENCE

Palliative Care Team at the Medical University of South Carolina

Consultant at Hollings Cancer Center at MUSC

physician

Kathleen Locker, MD

Dr. Locker serves as consultant in palliative medicine at Memorial and Parkridge hospitals. She also provides symptom management in the outpatient setting as part of Tumor clinic.

In addition to these palliative medicine services, she manages hospice inpatients at the Hospice Care Center and in hospitals.

She attended medical school at the University of South Alabama, completed a residency in family medicine in Yakima, Washington, and her fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine was done here in Chattanooga.

EDUCATIONUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA

nurse practitioner

W. Allen Chandler, Jr., PA-C

Allen [or “Mr. Chandler,” if you must!] sees patients in our clinic in Chattanooga and also provides palliative care consults in our local hospitals, and several other select local facilities, improving the lives of the many patients who have chosen PCS for their care.

Allen is passionate about exceptional patient care, and he has a particular affinity for Palliative Care. With its inherent focus on providing impeccable symptom management, its commitment to assistance with clarifying Goals of Care as well as its investment in helping patients coping with chronic illness to codify their Advanced Directives / Advanced Care Plans, Palliative Care is a natural fit for Allen.

Allen is a graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University’s Physician Assistant program and spent many years as a PA in local Emergency Rooms providing emergency medical care before discovering Palliative Care. He is available for consults with patients at CHI-Memorial and Parkridge Medical Center. He will also respond to your personal physician should he or she determine you can benefit from palliative care services.

EDUCATIONTREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY – Master of Science in Medicine DAVID LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY – Undergraduate and MA

Nurse Practitioner

Marissa Warden, MSN, FNP-C

Marissa primarily sees patients in their homes but also sees patients in local hospitals. She has been with Hospice of Chattanooga for eleven years, spending the last two working with Palliative Care Services as well.

She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (2001) and of Southern Adventist University with her Master's of Science in Nursing/Family Nurse Practitioner (2015).

Marissa lives in Ooltewah with her husband and daughter. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends outdoors, on the lake and at various sporting events, especially UT football games. She is an active member of Ooltewah United Methodist Church.

EDUCATIONUNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGASOUTHERN ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY